Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Fern Floor were formed in 2011 and feature members of Wreck of the Hesperus, Sodb, United Bible Studies, Council of Tanith and Last Word Spoken. To date they've kept a low profile and have played only a handful of gigs, but this debut mini-album is a testament to countless rehearsal hours honing subtly complex songs.

The band's mostly acoustic, pastoral style recalls the progressive folk of the 60s and 70s, but is devoid of any revivalist intent or nostalgic gimmickry. Instead, "Elder" contains six memorably melodic, dynamically arranged tracks - two from each of band's three principal songwriters, Andrew Cunningham, Emer Brady and Andrew Fox - with sensitive and inventive playing from piper Ian Lynch, bassist Fergal O'Reilly and drummer Ray Keenaghan.

Prepare to have these songs take up residency in your brain, and to wonder how you did without them.

Intricate cover art comes courtesy of Jane Lives - you'll need to pore over the included mini-poster to appreciate all the detail! Numbered edition of 100. Includes download code.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Richard Moult is an English composer, artist and poet currently living in remote northern Scotland. His solo work includes two albums for the Second Language label, "Celestial King for a Year" and the recently released "Yclypt". FEF followers may also know him as a member of United Bible Studies and from his appearance on the Raising Holy Sparks debut.

"Rodorlihtung" is a three-part piano-based suite tracing a journey from the East Sussex coast, to the mountains of Wester Ross, North Scotland, and finally arriving under the starry skies of the Hebridean Isles (the title itself being an obscure Old English word meaning 'the brightness of the starry skies').

Each movement is longer and more brooding than the last, culminating in the self-styled "classical doom" of the side-long third part, which was recorded in an East Sussex church during sessions for the "Ethe" album, and ends with the eerie barking of a fox. The mood of this meditative and engrossing album is perfectly encapsulated by the artist's cover painting.

Composed, arranged and mixed by Richard Moult. Piano recorded by Michael Lawrence in St Leonards Parish Church, East Sussex, England. Further instrumentation recorded by Richard Moult on the shores of Loch Snizort, Scotland, Spring 2012. Mastered by Rudi Arapahoe at Purgatory Mastering.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Lingua Fungi is a solo ambient / drone project from Jaakko Padatsu of Oulu, Finland, who is also one half of Asio Otus. There have been two full length Lingua Fungi CDs so far, as well as a split with Shrine (Bulgaria) and a collaboration with Alio Die (Italy).

Vigil for the Snail Lovers was recorded in 2009 and is arguably Padatsu's bleakest work to date, suggesting solitary, troubled wanderings in dark forests and on stony shores, though some kind of resolution seems to be arrived at towards the end. It's an hypnotic and immersive listen with an organic, nocturnal vibe. The mood is beautifully echoed in the cover painting by Elaine Ní Cuana, aka Sgraffito.

Korperschwache were formed in Austin, Texas in 1995 and consist of human RKF and non-human Doktor Omega. Their discography runs to over 30 titles, including a double-CD collaboration with Dublin's To Blacken The Pages. The band's style is reminiscent of Godflesh / Jesu crossed with the blackened psych of Skullflower, the claustrophobic bleakness of Khanate, and the monolithic noise of Prurient.

Heartwarming Tales from the Good Book is something of a concept work, with the titles referring to some of the nastier Old Testament verses from a time before benevolence was part of the deity's job description. The music itself comes across as representing the grief and despair of the hapless humans suffering God's wrath. It's a varied album, ranging from hypnotic industrial metal, to violent glitch, seething ambience, and minimalist guitar meanderings, and is imbued with a harsh digital sheen that is simultaneously unsettling and exhilarating.

Each copy includes a unique bible page imprinted with the Korperschwache logo and a download code. Numbered edition of 100.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Wreck of the Hesperus slithered into miserable existence in Ireland in 2004, with the intention of expressing the filthy weirdness of Autopsy through the pure doom of Reverend Bizarre. This uncivil union of influences is evident on their first two, long-unavailable demos, compiled here: Terminal Dirge (2004) and Eulogy for the Sewer Dwellers (2005).

Though displaying a slightly more conventional doom sound than more recent releases, the band is shown arriving fully (de)formed, with intelligent composition and experimentation always at the service of unrelenting grimness. This is the beginning of the band's progressive descent into hitherto unexplored depths of abjection and despair, leading to the mutations heard on the acclaimed full lengths, The Sunken Threshold (2006) and Light Rotting Out (2011).

Over an hour of sonic misery with appropriately squalid new artwork from frontwretch AC Rottt (with a larger version on a separate insert) and a download code for the False. Wimps and posers will not be asked to leave the hall. There is no hall. Merely a vast, viscous, oily black pool, rank with the putrefied insanity of a thousand generations. Escape is impossible.

Naythen Wilson is from Augusta, Maine. A spontaneous and hyper-prolific musician, his eclectic and compulsive approach has been evident on over 70 solo albums and in countless bands. This album is a tribute to another extremely prolific and spontaneous artist, the legendary Jandek.

Previous attempts to cover Jandek material have often avoided the characteristic dissonance of the originals, setting the lyrics amid more conventional song forms. Naythen however retains the songs' obtuse contours, while subtly rendering them more 'musical'. Many of the covers are surprisingly faithful recreations. Others take the source material in a different direction, while staying true to the Jandek style.

All the material covered here predates Jandek's recent live performances, and is drawn albums from 1978's Ready for the House to 2001's Worthless Recluse. It's a diverse selection - the ghostly blues of Naked in the Afternoon and Down in a Mirror, the free-rock racket of Ace of Diamonds, the vocal drones of Om, and the whimsical Janky.

The album is released with the permission of Corwood Industries. We believe that it's the first Jandek-related release on cassette format. Includes a download code for the full album plus the 17-minute bonus track, Worthless Recluse.

1/1. Naked In the Afternoon (5.16) 1/2. Om (2.23) 1/3. They Told Me About You (4.10) 1/4. Janky (2.55) 1/5. I Knew You Would Leave (10.17) 2/1. Ace of Diamonds (4.51) 2/2. Down In a Mirror (4.30) 2/3. Pending Doom (1.19) 2/4. Nancy Sings (3.24) 2/5. Ghost Town by the Sea (3.00) 2/6. This is a Death Dream (5.34)

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Áine O'Dwyer hails from Pallasgreen, Co Limerick, and is currently based in London. She is best known as a harpist, and has worked with United Bible Studies, The Cloisters, Mark Fry, The A Lords, Richard Moult and Piano Magic among others.

Last year Áine recorded a series of improvisations on the organ in St Mark's Church, Islington - as the title suggests, in the presence of the (occasionally audible) cleaning staff. The eight pieces are meditative and often melancholic, driven by Áine's strong melodic and structural sensibility, and drenched in the rich Gothic ambience of the space. The spirit of John Cage is evident both in the minimalist approach and in an openness to serendipitous (and comical) interjections from cleaners and stray children. An album of tremendous depth, power and beauty.

Woven Skull formed in 2008 and are based in Co. Leitrim, consisting of core members Natalia, Aonghus and Willie, and occasional guests. Their mostly acoustic, recurrent, and resonant sounds and structures are inspired by the woods and bogs that surround them.

'Moods of the Hill People' was recorded last year at Drumnadubber Wood and in St John's Church, Drumshambo, and is reminiscent of the pastoral side of Faust, Amon Düül or Ghost (Jpn), but with an aggressively minimalist and repetitive slant. At times it could pass for an unusually focused '60s commune jam. Elsewhere the impression is of something far more and ancient and ritualistic. Mesmeric, mantric and mysterious.